


The Dragon Princess

by random_pairings_50113



Series: A Series of Unfortunate Prompts [2]
Category: The Originals (TV), The Vampire Diaries (TV)
Genre: AU, Alternate Universe - College/University, Alternate Universe - Human, F/M, Tumblr Prompt, Witches
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-04-21
Updated: 2015-10-27
Packaged: 2018-03-25 04:06:33
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 3,178
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3796084
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/random_pairings_50113/pseuds/random_pairings_50113
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>“Found a weird stick. Turns out it’s a wand. I’ve accidentally turned myself into a cat and you’re a wizard school dropout who has no idea how to fix this” AU - KOROLINE</p>
<p>Rebekah takes a deep breath and then blurts it out. “Caroline was at my house after a night out and she happened on my wand. So she picked it up and messed with it, because she didn’t know what it was- anyway, you can see what happened to her.”<br/>Kol freezes and eyes the cat warily. “Do you mean to tell me that- wait, the cat is Caroline?”<br/>Rebekah shrugs in a ‘what-can-you-do?’ gesture and Kol gingerly puts the cat on his kitchen table. </p>
<p>(OR, Caroline unwittingly finds herself in the middle of the Swan Princess fairytale, except she's a dragon)</p>
<p>(second in a series of fics based on tumblr prompts)</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Day One: Kitten

**Author's Note:**

> Soooo... I have found a new obsession AKA Koroline. I mean, I shipped them before but THEN I found Seph Meadowes on ff.net and it turned into an obsession. Guys... I just kind of love them.
> 
> Anyway, so I got all excited after I read this tumblr prompt (from a list made by toxixpumpkin on tumblr) and wrote this fic in a couple of hours. You can tell I have exams soon and I'm procrastinating, right? Anyway, so I asked if anyone on tumblr would like to read it, got quite a good response and decided to post it on here. You can find my fanfiction tumblr at: goddess-of-headcanons.tumblr.com - Request something here if you want (alternatively, you could always fangirl with me over this ship at my actual tumblr, which is official-cloud-watcher.tumblr.com)

Kol has never been the best at magic in his family. The Mikaelsons are a long line of very powerful witches and wizards, and his older brothers have all been very mighty, but he just never got it. If he’s honest, he knows he’s not too bad at it. In fact, if he really tries, he’s very good (not as good as Nik and Elijah or Finn, but still good). But that’s the point- he doesn’t want to try.

He’s always been more into the whole human lifestyle; no evil warlocks to worry about, no literal witches for girlfriends, no spells that could potentially rip your own head off. He likes how easy-going and careless humans are. 

Which is why he drops out of wizard boarding school as soon as he gets the chance.

It’s definitely no Hogwarts, and the teachers are all too strict and crazy for him to take them seriously. Plus, magic has come easy to him all his life and he doesn’t see the need to practice with the others. He doesn’t want to become all powerful; just a spell to do the dishes for him every so often.

At sixteen, when his father and mother are both dead (they were kind of evil warlocks who deserved what they got), Kol takes the opportunity to use the deaths as a scapegoat. He takes off a month at first, and then gradually more and more until he eventually just stops going. No one asks after him.

Although, his remaining family are not exactly happy with him. (Well, almost all his remaining family- Finn’s too depressed to care about much other than himself.) Klaus and Elijah both lecture him on letting himself go, and throwing his life away, but Kol has always been good at ignoring them. Rebekah, his younger sister, is a whole other story. She’s always liked the humans, too, and is happy for him doing what he wants to. If she could, she’d join him, but she’s two years younger than him and under the guidance of her annoying older brothers. 

Kol enrols the rest of his school life at a human school and enjoys it immensely. He finds he’s really good at basketball (no literal flying balls to knock him over unexpectedly like in his old school) and joins the club, becomes popular, dates a few nice girls.

Of course, as soon as he graduates, he moves away, goes to a nice college and aces a mythology course (his lecturers really like his ‘fresh insight’ into witch mythology). He rents a gorgeous apartment in New York while he finishes his course, with the money remaining from his parents’ deaths.

Life is good and normal for a while. 

And then Rebekah turns up on his doorstep with a tiny, fluffy golden kitten on her shoulder.

Kol frowns when he sees the cat and says, “I thought you gave up on familiars?”

Rebekah- who had followed in his footsteps and removed all ties from magic to be normal once she graduated- rolls her eyes and pushes past him into his apartment. “I have a problem,” she announces.

“Of course you do,” Kol sighs, taking the kitten from her shoulder to stroke it. “You never come to me unless you do.”

Rebekah looks offended and pouts but doesn’t deny it. “Well,” she says. “I should probably start by telling you that I’ve had a nice, normal first year at college. I met a guy- Marcel- and he’s so human that it’s almost sickening. Anyway, I have a friend, Caroline. She doesn’t know about this magic thing- well-‘’ Rebekah casts a glance at the kitten and shudders. “-she does now.”

“I’m not sure I’m following, sister.”

Rebekah takes a deep breath and then blurts it out. “Caroline was at my house after a night out and she happened on my wand. So she picked it up and messed with it, because she didn’t know what it was- anyway, you can see what happened to her.”

Kol freezes and eyes the cat warily. “Do you mean to tell me that- wait, the cat is Caroline?”

Rebekah shrugs in a ‘what-can-you-do?’ gesture and Kol gingerly puts the cat on his kitchen table. 

“Bekah!” he exclaims. “Undo it, then!”

“I can’t!” Rebekah admits. “I don’t know what she did and I’m too out of practice to change it!”

“So take her to Klaus! Or Elijah!”

“They would hate me forever for exposing a human to magic, Kol, you know that!”

Kol hesitates and glances at Caroline, who has been observing the whole exchange with narrowed eyes. Or maybe that’s just her normal cat face. Kol’s not sure.

He sighs. “What do you want me to do?”

Rebekah grins and he knows he’s in trouble. “Just look after her while I search for a loophole.” At Kol’s expression, she says, “I can’t keep her in my flat- Marcel will get suspicious, and I’m not allowed pets there anyway.”

Kol puts his head in his hands and groans. “Fine.”

Rebekah launches at him in a hug. “Thank you, Kol!”

 

Kol takes his new task very seriously. He fishes out his mother’s spell books that he’s kept- for general house-cleaning spells and the like, nothing more- and searches, but there’s nothing about humans turning into animals. 

So he sets to making Caroline comfortable. He piles a few blankets in the corner of his room for her to sleep on, which she does, for a few hours. So Kol heads into his living room and slouches on the sofa, finishing his paper on trolls while watching Keeping up with the Kardashians re-runs.

Caroline pads into the room after a few hours and manages to climb onto his sofa, sitting herself on the arm next to him. Kol finds himself absently stroking her head as he works- then catching what he’s doing (stroking a grown woman’s head) and stopping. Every so often, though, his fingers will find their way subconsciously to her fur.

Finally, it gets dark, he’s had enough of Kim screaming at Kourtney, and Kol decides to head to bed. Caroline seems to sense what he’s doing and jumps onto his arm to hitch a ride to the bedroom. Kol eyes her for a second before sighing and walking to his bed, slumping onto it, vaguely forgetting that Caroline’s still with him, and falling asleep almost immediately.


	2. Day Two: Dragon

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kol wakes up with a dragon (no, really).

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Man, I just rediscovered this fic on my laptop and I'm in love once again... here's the rest of it

Caroline wakes up the second day as a dragon.

When Kol wakes, he notices something heavy and spiky digging into his side. He jolts awake and barely stops himself from screeching, because there’s a very large dragon curled up around his bedroom and snoring softly, little puffs of smoke emitting from its nostrils as it breathes soundly.

“You have got to be joking,” Kol mutters to himself as he carefully extracts his body from his bed- which is taken up mainly by a large, scaly black tail- and tiptoes across the room to his kitchen, where he promptly snatches his phone from the table and dials.

“ _Kol?_ ” Rebekah’s bleary voice croaks out. “ _Whazz the matter?_ ”

“Your friend has turned into a giant dragon and is currently squished into my bedroom,” Kol hisses, trying to be quiet so as to not wake Caroline. “I need help.”

Rebekah lets out the longest groan known to human kind as she heaves herself out of her bed. “ _Fine. I’ll try and help. But don’t be surprised- oh, don’t worry Marcel, go back to sleep. Brother trouble- don’t be surprised when it doesn’t work.”_

Kol grumbles to himself when Rebekah hangs up and slumps into the bathroom to have a shower before getting changed and heading back out to eat some breakfast.

Caroline’s awake by then, and panicking because she’s just woken up as a dragon. Kol moves to the curtains and puts them out quickly- he takes note to keep Caroline away from flammable objects next time she begins to panic- before walking in front of Caroline and placing a calming hand on her head.

She stills immediately and her giant amber eyes shut tight. Kol watches in fascination as a tear the size of his arm slides onto his carpet.

“It’s okay,” he tries to soothe. “I mean, it’s really not. You’re a dragon and- but that doesn’t matter. Bekah’ll be here soon and she’ll sort it.”

Rebekah, it turns out, cannot sort it out. She’s brought a whole lot of spell books and they spend most of the day around the apartment, watching more _Keeping up with the Kardashians_ and trying to find something.

Eventually, Kol has to leave for a lecture, but when he returns Rebekah is no closer to finding a cure.

More human-arm-sized teardrops stain his carpet and Kol says again- “It’ll be okay.”

 

* * *

On the third day, Caroline’s a swan.

“This is getting ridiculous,” Kol comments to Rebekah, who has decided to stay over until the problem is fixed. Caroline sits on the kitchen table, quacking indignantly whenever they say something about her. “What’s she going to turn into next? A frog?!”

Rebekah huffs and glares at him. “This is so not my fault.”

“If you didn’t just leave your wand around then this would never have happened!”

“Oh, so it’s all my fault now?”

“ _Yes_!”

Caroline squawks especially loudly and the two siblings shut up. Rebekah observes her friend for a second and then starts to giggle. Kol sends her a concerned glance.

“I’ve just remembered,” Rebekah explains through chuckles. “This is like the _Swan Princess_!”

Neither Kol nor Caroline look particularly impressed, but Rebekah is still laughing.

“Except yesterday she was a dragon,” Kol points out. “And the day before that, she was a cat.”

Caroline makes a noise and Kol nods as though she’s said something very important. “Right. And she’s not a princess.”

Rebekah stops laughing to stare at her brother. “You just talked to a swan.”

Kol brushes it off and shrugs. “Yeah, but she’s really a person.”

Rebekah continues to gape, but then a phone goes off. Without thinking, Rebekah picks it up.

“Hello?”

“ _Who are you and why do you have Caroline’s phone_?” demands a voice so angry that even Kol can hear it.

“Whoa, calm it Tyler,” Rebekah says, and then pales as she realises that she’s picked up Caroline’s phone. “It’s Rebekah.”

“ _Where’s Caroline?_ ” Tyler growls. “ _I can’t find her after we had that fight and I’m worried._ ”

Rebekah rolls her eyes. “Oh, shut it Tyler and leave her alone. Like you cared before anyway. It’s taken you three days to realise she’s missing.”

Caroline lets out a quack of indignation.

_“Is that a duck?! Where are you? You have to tell me!”_

“We’re at a park, idiot,” Rebekah lies. “Caroline doesn’t want to talk to you.” Then a look of realisation dawns on her face and she says. “Wait- ignore that last part. Caroline wants you to come see her… we’ll be at the Creek at eight o’clock tonight. Be there.”

She hangs up quickly and is subjected to judging looks from both Kol and the swan.

“What?”

“You just told him to come and meet his girlfriend, who is a _swan_!” Kol exclaims. “Do I really have to explain to you why this is a bad idea?”

Rebekah just grins. “I have an idea. And it most definitely involves Caroline. And Tyler.”

Kol groans. “I don’t like it when you get ideas like this.”

 

* * *

They go to the Creek by seven o’clock that night- “Gives us an hour to make sure everything’s right,” Rebekah says- and so it’s deserted. The reflection of the moon dapples across the surface of the water and the waves lap almost silently on the shore. It’s a very beautiful scene, but made all the stranger by the fact that a young woman is marching towards it with a swan in her arms, her reluctant older brother trailing behind.

“Right!” Rebekah announces, letting go of Caroline, who eyes the water’s edge warily. “Go on, into the water!”

Caroline waddles into it slowly, gliding over the edge of the clear, black water with grace.

“What’s your grand plan, then, sister?” Kol sighs, shivering slightly against the gentle breeze.

“Simple,” Rebekah says, proud grin on her face. “I cast another spell on her, bind her transformation to the moon and the sun. She turns into a human again because of the moon.”

Kol is impressed. “Nice,” he comments. “But how are you going to get her to stay as a human?”

“True Love’s Kiss!” Rebekah says as though it’s the most obvious answer, and Kol winces but doesn’t say anything.

True Love’s Kiss is, as far as he knows, a big myth in the wizard world. It’s supposed to work on any curse or spell, but there’s not been an example of it working in recent years. Still, Rebekah has always been a big believer in things like this- love conquering all- so Kol shuts his mouth and smiles wanly, as though excited.

Rebekah begins her spell by placing three candles in a triangle at the water’s edge. She breaks some kind of herb over the candles whilst muttering under her breath and waving her wand in the other hand. The light of the moon seems to glow a little brighter and suddenly the water bubbles under Caroline, who squawks in alarm. The water shoots up around her, twirling into the sky until it reaches about human height. When it falls back to its proper place, there’s a tall, beautiful woman there, with curly blonde hair and bright blue eyes. She glances down at herself and grins.

“It worked!” she exclaims loudly, then narrows her eyes at Rebekah. “Why the _hell_ did you never tell me that you were a witch?! That’s pretty important information, I’d say!”

Rebekah winces. “Well, it wasn’t something I could just admit to you- “Hey, guess what, Caroline, I’m a witch!”- it just doesn’t work like that!”

Caroline still doesn’t look happy but doesn’t say anything else about it- then seems to notice something else. “Hey, I’m walking on water!”

“Caroline?!” the voice is male and barely recognisable because it’s not angry like it had been before- rather, it’s confused.

Caroline swears and steps quickly onto dry land before Tyler can fully emerge from the surrounding trees.

He is almost exactly how Kol had imagined him- small and buff with dark hair and a permanent scowl on his face. He’s exactly the kind of guy Kol has always hated.

“Care, what are you doing here?” Tyler asks, then sees Kol and his already narrow eyes squint even further. “Who is he?”

Caroline doesn’t look too happy, but tries to fix on a smile- for Rebekah, Kol can tell- and takes a step forward. “Tyler- this is Bekah’s brother. He’s not anyone you have to worry about. You’re being jealous again!”

“Well, can you blame me, Care?” Tyler growls. “You’re always talking to other guys!”

Caroline looks angry, and Kol and Rebekah exchange worried looks over the squabbling pair.

“You mean _Jeremey Gilbert_ , who is my best friend’s little brother?” Caroline says. “Or maybe Matt, your best friend, and my ex!”

“There was that guy at the bar last week! What was his name- Klaus?”

Kol feels his face drain of colour and Rebekah claps a hand to her mouth, but Caroline and Tyler don’t notice. Of course, it is just like Niklaus, their older brother, to prey on younger girls in bars- especially ones with boyfriends.

“I told you that he was nothing to worry about, Tyler!” Caroline shouts. “You didn’t have to go and snog Liv Parker just because I talked to one guy!”

Kol suddenly understands- the reason why Caroline had had an argument with Tyler, and why this whole thing had happened in the first place- because Tyler cheated on Caroline. And he feels strangely protective over this girl he’s known for literally about ten minutes- well, in human form, anyway.

“I think you should leave, mate,” Kol intervenes, thinking that Rebekah’s True Love’s Kiss won’t work with this idiot, anyway.

Caroline glances his way as though she had forgotten he was even there and sends him a thankful smile. Unfortunately, it doesn’t go unnoticed by Tyler, who pretty much explodes.

“So is this why you’ve disappeared for the past three days?” he demands. “And why you’re still in that dress from the other night? Because you’ve been out with him?!”

Caroline, unexpectedly, explodes too. “So what if I have? As far as I’m aware, our relationship finished the moment you kissed Liv Parker.”

Tyler opens his mouth to say something, flounders, and then his face twists into one of utter rage. Rebekah’s hand shoots out and she shouts a spell. Tyler crumples to the floor and Rebekah actually spits on him.

“Good riddance!” she snaps and then kicks his side sharply for good measure.

Caroline slumps to the ground and puts her head in her hands. Rebekah heads straight for her friend and hugs her tightly. “I’m so sorry, Care.”


	3. Day Four: Labrador

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kol likes dogs. That's it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Finale guys... I love this fic, man. Like, just ignore me gushing over my own work. But seriously, I love this. And it's only maybe the second that I've ever completed???? I might cry
> 
> (also this is the shortest chapter ever but oh well. it had to finish somewhere, right?)

They spend the night at Kol’s apartment again. Caroline spends her remaining hours as a human eating as much cereal as she can, one of Kol’s shirts over her dress and sitting on his kitchen worktop. Rebekah rings Marcel and tries to explain, without the whole magic thing, what has happened.

Kol finishes his paper on trolls.

As the sun begins to rise, Caroline stands by the large window and watches it light up the world. With her messed-up golden curls, and in his shirt, Kol wonders for a moment at how beautiful she is. Once the light finally reaches the window, there’s an explosion of bright white and a grumpy-looking golden Labrador puppy emerges from it a second later.

Rebekah sighs in disappointment- as though she expected it to work, despite everything- and leaves shortly after to try some other books.

Caroline plods over to the sofa, which Kol is leaning against, sat on the floor. He automatically reaches his hand out and pats the top of her head. She sits next to him, head on his shoulder, and Kol- without really thinking about it- presses his lips to the top of her head in comfort.

“It’ll be-"

He really does scream this time and leaps up to his feet, as Caroline appears again- human form, this time. She frowns and stands up slowly, hand brushing her curls from her forehead as she tries to understand exactly what has just happened.

“I’m human!” she exclaims happily, twirling around and laughing slightly. “I’m me again!”

Kol laughs, too, and hugs her tightly, both of them giggling together until Rebekah bursts back in through the door.

“I think I’ve thought of a-" she stops at the sight before her and an evil smile spreads across her face. Kol doesn’t like it and lets go of Caroline. “Never mind.”

“How did this happen?” Caroline wonders, and her best friend just laughs.

“Like I said before,” Rebekah says. “True Love’s Kiss. I just want to know what situation made _Kol_ kiss a dog.”

**Fin**


End file.
